How is ex-Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen getting on these days? | OneFootball

Thomas Christiansen managed Leeds United from June 2017 until February 2018.

Following Brian McDermott's departure in June 2014, Leeds United had eight permanent managers who all lasted less than a year in the job before Marcelo Bielsa was appointed in June 2018. Thomas Christiansen was one of them.

The former Spain international, who was born in Denmark, was named Leeds United manager in the summer of 2017. He was brought in to replace Garry Monk, who had resigned the previous season after missing out on the play-offs and failing to reach an agreement to stay at the club with owner Andrea Radrizzani.

Christiansen managed Cypriot clubs AEK Larnaca and APOEL prior to his appointment at Elland Road, and had led his first team to consecutive second-place finishes and the third-qualifying round of the Europa League, before taking the latter to the last-16 of the Europa League and a comprehensive defence of their league title.

With Leeds having finished seventh during the 2016/17 season, it was clear that Christiansen's task was to challenge for promotion to the Premier League during the 2017/18 campaign.

Thomas Christiansen did not deliver at Elland Road

Expectations at Leeds were on the rise

Leeds were fairly busy in the transfer window ahead of Christiansen's first season in the dugout, with Pontus Jansson's move from Torino made permanent, Ezgjan Alioski signed from FC Lugano, and Mateusz Klich brought to the club from FC Twente.

Seven-figure sums were also paid to acquire the likes of Adam Forshaw, Tyler Roberts and Samu Saiz, while German striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga was signed on loan from Hamburg.

Christiansen also signed a number of other players from abroad who did not live up to expectations during their time in West Yorkshire, including Laurens De Bock, Pawel Cibicki and Jay-Roy Grot.

The now 51-year-old started in excellent fashion, with nine wins, two draws, and one defeat from his first 12 games in charge of the club. However, a 3-1 defeat against Cardiff City started a run of ten games in which Leeds were beaten eight times in all competitions.

He managed to produce a six-game unbeaten run towards the end of 2017, but the seven-game winless streak that followed, which included an embarrassing defeat against Newport County in the FA Cup, was enough to convince the Leeds hierarchy that a change was needed.

Christiansen was sacked after a 4-1 defeat at home to Neil Warnock's Cardiff in February 2018, with Leeds sitting 10th in the Championship table.

What is Thomas Christiansen up to nowadays?

The ex-Leeds boss is on the international stage

Following his departure from Elland Road, Christiansen spent more than a year out of the game before he was appointed as manager of Royal Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium.

12 months later, in July 2020, he was named manager of the Panama national team, having been relieved of his duties in Belgium.

The ex-Leeds boss failed to make it through the group stage of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, before his side were knocked out in their qualification campaign for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Christiansen's Panama showed that they have potential with an impressive penalty shootout victory over the United States, who were the hosts, in the semi-final of the Gold Cup in 2023. They were beaten by a late goal against Mexico in the final, but will have taken confidence from their performances throughout the tournament.

Now, Christiansen's main focus will be on guiding Panama to the 2026 World Cup, with hopes of repeating the successful qualification campaign that saw the country reach the 2018 World Cup.